Interested in hosting a virtual screening?
Click here for more information.
A DOCUMENTARY FILM ABOUT BBQ, ICE CREAM, AND THE CONFEDERATE FLAG
In MELTDOWN IN DIXIE a battle erupts in Orangeburg, SC, between the Sons of Confederate Veterans and an ice cream shop owner forced to fly the Confederate flag in his parking lot.
The Confederate flag has flown in the corner of an Orangeburg, South Carolina parking lot since 2000, when former ice cream shop owner Maurice Bessinger raised the flag in protest over it coming down from the SC State House dome. Bessinger, a self-avowed segregationist, deeded the plot of land where the flagpole stood to the local Sons of Confederate Vets chapter to ensure the flag continued to fly in Orangeburg long after his death.
In the wake of the 2015 Charleston Massacre, new creamery owner Tommy Daras, who once considered the flag an acceptable sign of a rebel, has a change of heart and commits to doing anything possible to get it down. But "Keeper of the Flag" Buzz Braxton and the Sons of Confederate Vets refuse. With Confederate symbols coming down around the country, can Tommy get the flag down in Orangeburg?
This intimate, verité-driven short documentary film explores the broader role of Confederate symbolism in the 21st century and the lingering racial oppression which these symbols help maintain.
There are two versions of this program: 54-minutes and 40-minutes.
54 and 40 minutes
SDH Captioned
Directed by Emily Harrold
Produced by Emily Harrold, Seth Gadsden
Editor: Rosie Walunas, Virginie Danglades
Executive Producer: Jedd Canty, Ryan Chanatry, Mahalia Cohen
Cinematographers: John Barnhardt, Kelly Creedon, Seth Gadsden, Kyle Kelley
A Lynnwood Pictures Production
We offer two basic screening options: in-person or virtual. Book an in-person screening using the button below. For an online screening, fill out the virtual screening request form.
For more information on virtual screening options, visit our Learn About Screenings page.
 |
Screening options: COMMUNITY SCREENINGS (single events with license to charge admission) |
Peter S. Carmichael, Prof. Civil War Studies, Gettysburg College
"Symbols are important. In public spaces they mark who belongs, who is welcome, and who is excluded. MELTDOWN IN DIXIE is an honest and empathetic portrayal of a controversy over the public display of the Confederate battle flag in a small South Carolina town. Through this film, students will be able to see the emotional power that historical memory exercises in the present, as well as the bravery and persistence it takes to overcome resistance to change. The film will work well for classes in which students are exploring the enduring power of the Lost Cause narrative of the Civil War in the American South."
"Monuments falling, Confederate flags coming down, and people taking to protest racial injustice are the images of a Southern Lost Cause coming undone. Too often the lives of ordinary folks disappear in the national story. This film looks behind the dramatic headlines...This is a powerful film told through the voices of blacks and whites. MELTDOWN IN DIXIE brilliantly succeeds in giving voice to the common people caught in the collision of the past and the present."
"MELTDOWN IN DIXIE is a moving and timely narrative of the modern South. Sensitively weaving together interviews on race, history, and politics, filmmaker Emily Harrold demonstrates how all combine to reverberate across generations and in different ways for various people. The narrative dramatically highlights the vicious legacy of white supremacy which still raises its ugly head; but countered by a coalition of Black and white locals who use both the rule of law and community activism to combat racism and help move the American experiment towards a truer multicultural democracy."
"MELTDOWN IN DIXIE is a riveting film that uses a local conflict over the Confederate battle flag in Orangeburg, South Carolina to educate viewers about the broader issues of race, memory, and power implicated in controversies over public displays of Confederate iconography. Its use of first-person narratives to illustrate these issues renders it an excellent documentary for learning about the ways in which symbols of the past continue to convey powerful meanings in the present and future. This film has resonance for a variety of audiences, and I highly recommend it."
"MELTDOWN IN DIXIE offers a sad, subtle, powerful examination of the confrontation over Confederate symbolism in one small southern town. It lets both sides speak as it reveals the racial tensions at the heart of the debate over a Confederate flag in front of a local creamery. With the flag still flying and the creamery closed at the end of the movie, the film will foster classroom discussion."
"This is a timely film that demonstrates the tensions between those that want to fly the Confederate flag and those that find the flag offensive. As we grapple with our past, MELTDOWN IN DIXIE is an important tool that could be used in classrooms to help facilitate important discussions."